Chair Discussion Group

Discussion Group Program:

YPFP’s Discussion Groups are a core part of the organization and its membership experience. Discussion Groups provide an intimate forum for members to exchange ideas, express their views, and build their knowledge of critical foreign policy issues in a small group setting. Each group is composed of 12-40 members with significant interest and/or experience in the area under discussion. Some groups also contain Working Groups that produce analytical written content. See more here.

Position Description:

Chairmanship of a DG is a prestigious position that reflects an individual’s existing expertise in a topic or region, acknowledges the individual’s ability to build and manage a community, and places confidence in the individual to serve as an outstanding source of knowledge on a specific region or topic that they share with the broader YPFP community. DG Chairs also seek out opportunities to connect their groups with broader YPFP events and initiatives and to link their group with external organizations or activities in the broader foreign policy community.

This position requires approximately 5 hours per week, and successful candidates will be able to make at least a one-year commitment to the role.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Determine membership criteria for the DG and process applicants on a timely basis (respond to emails within 48 hours).

Arrange meetings at least once every month, provide guidance on topics for discussion, and distribute pre-meeting readings.

Work to identify opportunities across YPFP to co-host, co-sponsor, or otherwise contribute to events and other initiatives.

Identify opportunities to collaborate or partner with organizations and initiatives outside YPFP that would add value and provide opportunities for your DG or YPFP as a whole.

Working Group functions: A Discussion Group’s analytic content creation apparatus is known as a Working Group. Chairs may coordinate and curate analytic publications from their DG members upon receiving approval from DG Leadership.

Desired Skills and Experience:

Demonstrate expertise and/or experience in the topic or region of the DG.

Proven track record of leadership and management skills.

Excellent communications skills, specifically the ability to convey complex information about the topic or region clearly and concisely to DG members, and others as appropriate.

Clear leadership abilities; the capability to inspire others to engage intellectually in a subject, and the ability to motivate members to think about issues and questions in new ways and generate new insights and ideas about the topic or region.

Available to hold regular DG meetings, preparing materials and products before and after each meeting, and generally leading the discussion among members.

Outstanding organizational skills to enable consistent meetings.

Be proactive and creative in exploring recruitment possibilities and meeting locations that are conducive to group needs.

Available to attend regular DG Chair meetings.

Responsiveness to email.

Eligibility and Selection:

Ideally an early career foreign policy professional or current graduate student in a relevant field

Resident of the Washington DC area

Position is unpaid and part-time

If not already a dues-paying member, candidate must become a YPFP member upon acceptance of an offer